Many thanks to a long-time subscriber, Lorane Stanley, for sending me a copy of the article I requested.

Also, Jeff, another subscriber sent me the link to an article about another passport case (Jones v. Mnuchin 19-cv-00222). The Plaintiff, Craig Thomas Jones, himself a member of the Georgia Bar with experience arguing before the Supreme Court, has filed a complaint seeking judicial review of his passport ineligibility resulting from his certified seriously delinquent IRS tax debt. First, he challenges the certification on the grounds that the IRS previously determined the tax debt to be uncollectible and any liens for the tax years at issue are currently not legally enforceable. More interestingly, Taxpayer asserts that IRC §7345 is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment and other applicable law because they completely deprive Plaintiff of his right to international travel for reasons that are not closely tailored to the Government’s interest in collecting revenue or preventing tax fraud-particularly when applied to a citizen who engages in no financial activity abroad, illicit or otherwise, which would be furthered by issuance of a passport.

Jones further emphasizes that the right to international travel is as fundamental as any other right guaranteed to U.S. citizens, such as the right to free speech. And just as the other guaranteed rights may not be denied simply because of an old tax liability, neither may the right to travel abroad be so denied.

Here is a link to the docket for Jones v. Mnuchin..